Getting a good runedown.

So, I've read around a bit and runes still confuse me as to what does or does not stack. It seems certain stats from some runes stack, while others don't, but nowhere I've found has been particularly clear and a lot of them seem to be old and from the beta. So I'm asking you all if you can help me out and either break it down for me or tell me where to go that breaks it down.

What stats stack from repeated runes? Power? Vitality? Magic Find? What doesn't?
Does nothing from repeated runes stack?
Do the same stats from different runes stack? ie:
+6 Power
+1 magic find
and
+6 power
+5 vitality

thanks guys!

Originally Posted by Masark

People in cars cause accidents. Accidents in cars cause people.

"Goodness is not goodness that seeks advantage. Good is good in the final hour, in the deepest pit without hope, without witness, without reward. Virtue is only virtue in extremis."
And thus I give you: MALE contraception!

Everything from different runes stack. However, having more than K (K=2, 4, 6, depending on quality of rune) won't grant you anything additional. ie having 3+ minor runes of X is the same as having 2 minor runes of X, but you can still have 2 each of minor runes of X, Y, Z and get all of their bonuses, even if they overlap in stats

Everything from different runes stack. However, having more than K (K=2, 4, 6, depending on quality of rune) won't grant you anything additional. ie having 3+ minor runes of X is the same as having 2 minor runes of X, but you can still have 2 each of minor runes of X, Y, Z and get all of their bonuses, even if they overlap in stats

Okay, so second question.

When I have one Rune of +power/vitality I get +power. When I have two do I get two +power and two +vitality, or do I only get one +power and one +vitality?

Originally Posted by Masark

People in cars cause accidents. Accidents in cars cause people.

"Goodness is not goodness that seeks advantage. Good is good in the final hour, in the deepest pit without hope, without witness, without reward. Virtue is only virtue in extremis."
And thus I give you: MALE contraception!

The bonus of a rune is a set. For having l<K parts of the set, you get all bonuses (singularly) up to l, So if a minor rune's bonus is: 1) +power 2) + vit, then with 1 rune you'll activate the +power, and with 2 runes equipped you'll activate the +vit. Each part (for a given rune type) will only activate a single time

The bonus of a rune is a set. For having l<K parts of the set, you get all bonuses (singularly) up to l, So if a minor rune's bonus is: 1) +power 2) + vit, then with 1 rune you'll activate the +power, and with 2 runes equipped you'll activate the +vit. Each part (for a given rune type) will only activate a single time

Now, is the same true of gems? Or do they stack?

Originally Posted by Masark

People in cars cause accidents. Accidents in cars cause people.

"Goodness is not goodness that seeks advantage. Good is good in the final hour, in the deepest pit without hope, without witness, without reward. Virtue is only virtue in extremis."
And thus I give you: MALE contraception!

Wow gear has a 2 set bonus and a 4 set. It's essentially the same thing except each rune has their own bonuses and it can go to 6. Yes you can mix and match bonuses however the limit on runes is 6.

Well that pretty much clears up everything I was curious about guys, thanks.

Originally Posted by Masark

People in cars cause accidents. Accidents in cars cause people.

"Goodness is not goodness that seeks advantage. Good is good in the final hour, in the deepest pit without hope, without witness, without reward. Virtue is only virtue in extremis."
And thus I give you: MALE contraception!

(1) +10 Power
(2) +20 Condition Damage
(3) +20 Power
(4) +40 Condition Damage
(5) +30 Power
(6) +5% power becomes condition damage
(IDK if that's a real set I just made it up)

If you have all six you get the following
10 + 20 + 30 = +60 Power
20 + 40 = +60 Condition Damage
+5% of power is added to Condition Damage on top of that.

I THINK that's how it works, otherwise a lot of runes become quite useless.

I still don't understand it. and if i do, it doesn't make sense to me. if i had 2 from the set above, that would give me 10 power and 20 condition damage? what's so great about that? i could have 2 crap runes, one that gives more then 10 power, and the other that gives more then 20 condition damage, no?

I still don't understand it. and if i do, it doesn't make sense to me. if i had 2 from the set above, that would give me 10 power and 20 condition damage? what's so great about that? i could have 2 crap runes, one that gives more then 10 power, and the other that gives more then 20 condition damage, no?

Because runes are essentially modular set bonuses. It's a pretty straight forward system.

I still don't understand it. and if i do, it doesn't make sense to me. if i had 2 from the set above, that would give me 10 power and 20 condition damage? what's so great about that? i could have 2 crap runes, one that gives more then 10 power, and the other that gives more then 20 condition damage, no?

Because they stack. If you get 4, you get 30 power and 60 condition damage. If you have two from two different sets, you'd have 20 power and 40 condition damage.

While you live, shine
Have no grief at all
Life exists only for a short while
And time demands its toll.

I still don't understand it. and if i do, it doesn't make sense to me. if i had 2 from the set above, that would give me 10 power and 20 condition damage? what's so great about that? i could have 2 crap runes, one that gives more then 10 power, and the other that gives more then 20 condition damage, no?

Its a judgement call on what you want. Yes in some cases you could get more raw stats by useing the gems in all 6 slots instead of the 6 runes. In those cases its not really the raw stats the folks are after but whatever the special set bonus is. Some of the 6 piece set bonuses on some runs are quite powerful in the right situation and are worth slightly lower raw stats. Normaly theres something realy good on the 6 piece and ocasinaly something not as strong but not raw stats at around the 4 piece mark. the "Adds 5% of stat X to stat Y" can be particularly potent if your already stacking stat X and need stat Y

Other times runes give more concentrated stats than you could otherwise get. Magic find for example you get a total 50% MF from haveing 5 runes of the traveler where as gems only give 4% each or 20% for useing the same slots. There are even 3 different runesets that apply MF and you can combine 5 of one(for the 50% bonus) and still slap in a 10% from another set as the 1 piece bonus and still be well ahead of where you'd be with gems.

The 6th rune set bonus is usually the clicher for me. Example: the Traveler 6-rune set (+magic find) gives you a "+5% movement speed" bonus. It's passive and always-on (when wearing the set). That's a big buff, when you're using the set to run around gathering mats and farming for drops. Stacked with my Ranger's signet speed buff (passive +25% speed) and castable speed buffs (short duration +33% speed), the 6-rune set is well worth it.

Raxel getting a full 6set bonus for MF is silly, you're better off breaking it down so you get several bonuses and thus more MF

Yeah, you'll want to get 6 Pirate(with one in the breather) and 1 of Noble or that other rune. Something to note is that the breather will replace your helm, including stats, armor and rune.

For how to decide what runes you want, I'll usually fish around on weapons to try to find a common set effect between all of them, and try to combine sigils/runes to maximise something. Two main ways you can do this; you can go 6-rune, for a set which maximises damage output (I use Rune of the Undead for this, with Rabid gear; maximises Condition Damage and Toughness, which rolls back into Condition Damage), or you can go 2/2/2 to try to maximise a boon/condition (Mr Freeze is a necromancer build that ends up with something like +90% freeze duration. Flamethrower Engis will want to go 2/2/2 with +might runes, to allow themselves to receive continuous 25 might stacks).

If you are particularly bold, you could use a Shiny Ditto. Do keep in mind though, this will infuriate your opponents due to Ditto's beauty. Please do not use Shiny Ditto. You have been warned.